Alice Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by bananathepenguin
Summary: What if Harry were a girl? *Sees infinite possibilities* Please note: In my attempt to make the story more realistic, there are some dark themes that crop up occasionally.
1. Chapter 1

**[Disclaimer: Y'all know who it belongs to. Only Alice's character and the extra/modified scenes are my works.]**

Nighttime. Inky-black sky all around. I'm soaring above the world, flying fast, eyes tearing up in the strong wind. Down below, the whole of London twinkles like some beautiful, bizarre toy city. Everything is a beautiful, magical blur.

My heart is pounding with excitement. The blue motorcycle beneath me growls and picks up even more speed. This is the most happy I've felt in a long ti-

Waaaaiit a second.

Flying motorcycle!?

And for some reason, I'm getting the feeling that I'm not alone on this thing.

Just as I turn around to face whoever it is with me, the entire sky starts rumbling and shaking. The vehicle beneath me flickers and then, disappears completely.

Oh, crap.

Alice Potter woke up with a gasp. She couldn't breathe. Everything was blurry and dusty. The world was still quaking and Alice couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening. It took a minute for her to become aware of the muffled yells from above that accompanied the rumbling.

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP! UP, UP, UP!"

"Aaaaaaaaaagh. PLEASE shut up," Alice mumbled, pulling her thin sheet over herself to block out the yells and keep the dust dribbling from the top of the tiny cupboard in which she slept in, off of her face.

Alice had barely wondered why her infinitely annoying cousin Dudley, who was the source of the mini earthquake, was up early when there came a sharp rapping noise from outside her door

"Up! Get up! Now! I want everything perfect for my darling's birthday!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice commanded.

Alice let out a loud groan and reached for glasses. No wonder.

Today was Dudley's birthday.

"UP!" Aunt Petunia shrieked.

"I'm up!" Alice shouted back, pulling on a pair of Dudley's old trousers.

And thus began her day. Alice had to listen to Uncle Vernon gripe about her short, untidy hair and serve breakfast, while Dudley got to open his many presents and complain about how he had less presents than last year. She had been dreading this day for months and was just eager for it to end. However, a phone call from their elderly neighbour, Mrs Figg did wonders for Alice's spirits. One of the worse parts of Dudley's birthday that she had to endure every year, Alice could barely suppress her joy when the old lady called to say she won't be able to look after Alice today. Uncle Vernon's equally vile sister, Marge, was out of town; Again, good news (She absolutely despised Alice). In the end, the Dursleys, bad-naturedly decided to take her along with them, Dudley and Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, on the birthday outing, however much Dudley moaned about it. They didn't trust her enough to leave her alone in the house. They never did trust her with anything, for reasons unfathomable to Alice.(Okay, maybe not COMPLETELY unfathomable, because wherever Alice was, something weird happened. But still, it wasn't like she actually DID anything weird on purpose. They just seemed to happen.)

And now, Alice was wedged between Dudley and Piers, but she wasn't complaining, unlike

Uncle Vernon, who was ranting very loudly. This was one of his favourite pastimes and he especially loved to rant about poor Alice. This fine morning, the topic was motorcycles.

"…roaring along like complete maniacs, the young hoodlums," Uncle Vernon said, waving one hand around exasperatedly.

Alice, who was trying to distract herself from the two bored boys who had now taken to pinching her to occupy themselves joined in excitedly. "I dreamt about a motorcycle today! It was flying."

SCREEEECH. Uncle Vernon had stomped down on the brakes, stopping the car violently in the middle of the road. He turned around, his face an ugly puce and spat,"MOTORCYCLES. DON'T. FLY!"

Alice leaned back, shocked.

"It was just a dream," she mumbled.

And that put an end to any more urges Alice had to converse with her aunt and uncle.

The first part of the trip went great. Alice had an amazing lunch (Mostly because Piers would order something that had a fancy name and would end up not eating it) and enjoyed herself at the zoo, one of the many places she'd never been to before. The rest of her outing group ignored her for most of the trip, which suited her just fine.

She was standing in front of the gorilla sanctuary, trying to figure out who the animal was reminiscent of, when Piers came up her. "Why are you even here?"

Alice sighed. "Leave me alone, Polkiss."

"No but why?" He continued derisively. "You're such a freak. You never fit in with anyone at school-"

"-because you and Dudley, along with your other mates never let me-"

"-no one likes you even in your own house-"

Alice was starting to see red.

"-Why don't you just go away to another place where we never have to see you again? Why don't you just disappear, freak?"

"Why don't you polKISS MY-"

Applause from the nearby crowd cut Alice off; Somebody had managed to enrage the gorilla to the point that it was not on standing on its hind legs and beating its chest with a roar.

"COOL!" Piers yelled excitedly and rushed off to join the horde.

Alice was left behind, still seething. Growling to herself, she starting putting as much distance between her and the rest of troupe as she could without losing them. (Goodness forbid that happen. The Dursleys probably wouldn't even bother TRYING to search for her.)

A while later, Alice followed the Dursleys and Piers into the reptile house. The cool and dark atmosphere had Alice closing her eyes. When she opened them, she found that her group had gone ahead and mixed with the crowd. Alice started panicking for a second, but shouldn't have worried because as it turned out it was very easy to find them: Follow the sounds of a child yelling frustratedly.

They were now standing in front of a huge glass container which housed one of the larger snakes in the place. Dudley was wailing about how it was boring him by not moving and Uncle Vernon was rapping on the glass trying to get its attention.

"And I thought I couldn't find them," Alice mused as she drew closer to them.

"Make it MOVE!" Dudley shouted, stamping his foot.

"It's ASLEEP! Let it be!" Alice snapped.

"How do YOU know? Its eyes are open!" Dudley retorted.

"I'm not even going to bother answering that. Should've paid more attention in Zoology class," Alice said acidly, knowing full well Dudley played truant for most of his Zoology classes.

"Ugh, this sucks." So saying, the boy stomped off to harass some other poor reptile. The rest of them skittered after him.

Alice turned back to the snake. She watched it sleep for a while and felt pity for it.

"Don't you feel fed up?" She whispered softly against the glass. "Having to deal with asshats like him?"

And then something unexpected happened. The snake started moving.

It lifted its head from amongst its coils, swaying slightly and it LOOKED STRAIGHT AT HER.

Alice eyes widened. "Is it…LOOKING at me?"

The snake flicked its tongue once.

"C-Can you… understand me?"

The snake nodded its head.

**[A/N: Okay, y'all know what happens next]**

_

"Go. Cupboard. No supper for a week." Uncle Vernon barely managed to get these words out .

As the lock of her cupboard's door clicked, locking her inside, Alice felt a huge heaviness settle onto her.

Piers' words came crashing back.

"Why are you even here?"

"..such a freak…"

"…never fit in…"

"…no one likes you…"

"…just go away…"

"…just disappear…"

This wasn't the first time she'd heard this and he wasn't the only person to say them. Every single day, at least once, something along these lines would be thrown at her- From her peers, from her neighbours, from her so-called family. She had no parents, no friends, no one she could talk to or at the very least, someone who didn't mind her feeling of alienation, like there wasn't anywhere in this world where she could belong, she had no idea how to fix it or make it better. She knew it wasn't just a phase; She'd been going through this for as long as she could remember although whenever let go of the hope that it was just a terribly long phase.

Every so often, she would get the feeling that she was never even supposed to be born, like it was all some sort of mistake, like SHE was a mistake.

And at that very moment, every thing she'd faced came flooding back- Every single punch. every kick, every insulting word flung at her, every moment of loneliness- and pressed against her chest. Tears stung Alice's eyes and she felt as if her heart would burst from all the pain.

As she lay curled up on her tiny cot sobbing quietly, her only wish was for someone to come and take her away from this dark place.

_

**A/N: GUYS. Before you starting forming opinions about this, know that this the first time I'm posting on the internet anything I've written. I've wanted to for SUCH a long time, but due to various reasons, it did not happen.**

**I reeaaally don't know how you guys will take this chapter. I'm very much open to constructive criticism as long as it isn't rude. And don't judge the upcoming chapters by this one. Things get much lighter once our saviour steps in ;)**

**Please take a moment to review the chapter! It would mean the world to me :)**

**Pce out xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**[Disclaimer: Except for Alice and the extra/modified scenes, everything belongs to JK Rowling. ]**

Alice had received a lot of punishments but the one for the boa constrictor incident was, by far, the worst. It included, but was not limited to, the biggest bout of ignoring she had ever been subject to. Other than to glare at her to wash the dishes or dust the living room, the Dursleys pretty much considered her non-existent. If it weren't for Dudley, Alice's lips probably would've started to mould onto each other, for lack of usage.

Dudley's PTSD was proving to be very dangerous to Alice. His bullying had increased twofold since the incident, especially since the uniform at his new school Smeltings, which was also Uncle Vernon's old school, included a long, knobbly stick. The sticks were to whack the other students behind the teachers' backs. This, was said to help develop character. ('_Wow, no wonder Uncle Vernon ended up like this_,' Alice had thought when she heard of the stick and its usage.)

Alice was to attend the local public school, Stonewall High. For the first time ever, she and Dudley were to go to different places. Perhaps Dudley was putting Alice through all the bullying he would've done to her, had they been going to the same school, along with his usual bullying.

One fine morning, a morning like any other, they were all seated at the breakfast table— Uncle Vernon behind his morning daily, Aunt Petunia fussing over Dudley who was waving his Smeltings stick all about the place and Alice avoiding the stick, just trying to have her breakfast in peace— when the doorbell rang, putting a pause in the family picture. It was the postman. One glower from Uncle Vernon had Alice trudging toward the front door to get the post.

She found three envelopes lying in the hallway— A postcard from Aunt Marge, a bill and a letter.

A letter. For Alice.

Alice froze with it in her hand.

_'A letter for me? No way it can't be…'_

But there it was, a letter addressed to a Ms. A. Potter, The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. So unless there was somebody else going by 'Ms. A. Potter' in this house, besides her, this letter was, in fact, for her.

_ what the bloody heck_

If someone had looked into Alice's mind right about then, that was what it would've looked like. She was still taking in the fact that someone had actually written to her as she walked back to the kitchen. Without looking up from the miracle in her hands, she passed Uncle Vernon the rest of the post and took up her seat next to him again.

Her heart was pounding; She could hear the blood rush in her ears as she turned the letter over in her hands. The envelope, made of some heavy yellow parchment, was sealed with purple wax which had on it, a coat of arms— a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large 'H'.

Just as she tore open the envelope with trembling hands, Dudley shouted,"DAAAAAD! Dad, look, she's opening a letter!"

"Opening a letter? What-" Uncle Vernon didn't even bother completing his sentence before snatching it out of her hands.

"Hey, hey! Give that back! It's MINE!" For once, Alice didn't think about the consequences of yelling at Uncle Vernon; The most amazing thing to ever happen to her was being taken away and she was not, for once, going to take it lying down.

"YOURS?" Uncle Vernon laughed derisively. "Who would be writing to YOU?"

The mocking look on his face immediately turned to one of shock as he took in the address and the wax seal on the letter. All the blood in his face drained away and his hands started shaking.

"P-P-Petunia!" Uncle Vernon barely managed to stutter.

Aunt Petunia's reaction was just as bad, if not worse. With a loud clatter, the spoons she had been holding in her hand dropped to the floor, and she rushed over to her husband's side, reaching out for the letter as if to make sure for herself. Her face was paler than Alice had ever seen it, and her eyes were wide and fearful as she confirmed whatever Uncle Vernon had meant.

Swallowing, she turned around slowly and said in a weak voice,"B-Breakfast is over. Both of you, leave the kitchen so I can c-clear up."

"What? What about my letter? I NEED TO SEE MY LET-"

"I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD MY THIRD HELPING YET-"

In one movement, Uncle Vernon was out of his seat, shoving Dudley and dragging Alice by her elbow out the kitchen door.

"YOU HEARD HER! OUT!" He bellowed, throwing them both out into the hallway and slamming the door shut.

x_x

Alice exhaled slowly and watched the dust rise up in a cloud. The dirty ground of an abandoned house on the rocks in the middle of the sea wasn't the most comfortable of sleeping places, and lord, was she exhausted, but at least she had a blanket and a pillow. The blanket _may_ be thinner than a spider's web and the pillow _may_ feel like it was filled with dead batteries, but it was a blanket and a pillow nonetheless.

Alice sighed softly. This was not where she thought she'd be on the eve of her eleventh birthday. The days leading up to this moment were a confused, panicky blur. The big freakout over The Letter had ended with Aunt Petunia letting Alice know with a strained smile that it was mistakenly addressed to her and that Uncle Vernon had 'taken care' of it. Alice had barely processed this when another surprising announcement was made— Aunt Petunia suggested she now sleep in what used to be Dudley's second bedroom. In her many years at No 4, Privet Drive, Alice had learnt protesting only made things a million times worse for her so she did what was asked. Sitting on the floor near the window of her new room that night, she'd accepted that nothing like that was ever going to happen again. Maybe she'd even imagined that this had happened in the first place. She was, is and will always be alone. She'd let that sink in, so that nothing could ever make her feel this depressed ever again. Surprisingly, Alice convincing herself that she'd made it all up just to feel better turned out to be completely pointless, because three more letters arrived in the post next day, all addressed to her. Although Uncle Vernon burnt all three, and Aunt Petunia yelled at her to go to her room, she knew that none of it was dreamt up and whoever it was, was determined to contact her. From the next day on, they started finding letters in weird places, besides the ones they received via post- rolled up in the egg cartons, stuffed in flower pots. Alice had tried everything in order to get her hands on one but her relatives were always one step ahead. They all made it to Sunday without Alice having read the letters and just as her uncle was saying that there is no post on Sundays, in came the letters. Dozens and dozens of them burst into the house, through the windows , through the fireplace, through the toilets, you name it, flooding the house with no end in sight. Uncle Vernon had finally cracked, pushed them all into the car and taken off. They stayed at a new place each night, but there seemed to be no escape— the letters would always find them. This zigzag journey is what had led them all here, to this miserable building out in the sea in the middle of nowhere, where no postman could ever hope to reach them.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Alice saw that she had traced the words,'Happy Eleventh Birthday Alice Potter' in the grime with her finger. Oh and what a joyful birthday it was. What was even sadder, though, was that this one was not much worse than any of the others she'd lived through. Alice glanced up at Dudley's hand which was hanging off of the edge of the squashy sofa he was snoring on. His digital glow-in-the-dark watch informed her that it was five to midnight. Alice briefly wondered how anyone could sleep though a raging storm like this, with the wind howling at them and the waves crashing onto the walls outside.

Eleven years old. The big one-one (Not that there was a small one-one). Somehow she felt that it was an important number. She didn't even know why. Ten should've been the special number, what with her crossing over into the two digit years of her life. Maybe it was all that letter business giving her false hope. Maybe it was because she's always referred to eleven as onety-one in her head. Somehow, onety-one seemed to suit the number more than eleven. It seemed to be the type of number that'd be different and odd.

_Odd._

'_I just made a punny,' _Alice giggled to herself.

Sweet mother of monkey milk, she was going crazy.

Or there was something weird about the dust on the floor she'd been inhaling all this while.

_'__Or MAYBE it's the sleep deprivation,'_ Alice scolded herself for getting distracted and looked at up at Dudley's expensive watch again- five seconds to twelve.

She felt her body tense in preparation. She couldn't miss this. And she definitely wasn't going to be getting a birthday cake, let alone any candles to blow out whilst making a wish. Might as well.

00:00.

Alice expelled all the air in her lungs with one long breath blowing away the letters she'd traced in the dirt. She smiled and watched the dust settle away from her. She was eleven years old.

BOOM.

Alice twisted around onto her back with a gasp, looking up in fright. She had clearly heard something bang onto the door from the outside. Was it an extra large wave?

BOOM.

Okay, this was definitely not happening in her head. She'd seen the door shake with the impact of whatever it was just now. Alice quickly scrambled onto her feet just as Dudley shot straight up on the sofa, sleep still in his system, shouting,"THE SHIP'S SINKING, PA!"

Even her aunt and uncle were awake and standing outside their room. Alice's eyes widened when she saw that Uncle Vernon had a shotgun in his shaking hands, as he yelled,"Whoever you are, DO NOT COME INSIDE. I repeat, do not come inside or I'll sh-shoot!"

_BOOM._

The door swung clean off of its hinges, finally giving in, and fell onto the floor with a loud thud, sending clouds of dust billowing all around.

Alice stood frozen. A ginormous man was silhouetted against the violent storm outside in the doorway. Dudley, who was fully awake by now, let out a whimper. Uncle Vernon looked like he'd swallowed a bullet and Aunt Petunia was cowering behind him.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then the stranger bent over and squeezed through the doorway. (_'He's too big, he won't be- wait, no is he- oh what? He made it.'_) Once inside, he took a large step forward, finally allowing everyone to see him properly.

Round-nosed and black-eyed. Thick, long, wild, black hair and beard.A tatty brown cloak large enough for Alice to use as a tent.

She had barely taken all this in when the man cleared his throat loudly and spoke.

"Sorry abou' tha'. Storm ou'side was gettin' a bi' nasty an' you people didn' answer the firs' few times I knocked."

Knocked. He had been _knocking_. Oh my god.

"I'll fix tha' righ' up now," he grunted, stooping and picking up the door. With one strong push, he had it wedged in the doorway nice and tight, lessening the deafening sounds of the storm outside.

"Aah that's much better now, innit?"

Uncle Vernon, who'd been watching all this with a white face, finally found his voice.

"Whoever you are, I need you to back out that door and LEAVE. NOW. Or I will shoot!"

"Ah shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune." The man strode forwards until he was inches away from the shotgun pointed at him. He reached out, gripped the barrel in his large hands and with a quick twist, he bent it backwards.

A small squeak escaped Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon was looking at his now-mangled gun with his mouth open.

The stranger turned around like what he'd done was no big deal, and clapped his hands together."Now, where's Alice?"

Dudley, who'd been trembling on his sofa all this while, toppled over onto the ground when the man looked at him."IT'S NOT ME, IT'S NOT ME, IT'S HER! TAKE HER!" He pointed at Alice.

_'Wow, thanks, cuz.' _Alice mentally rolled her eyes.

The man looked at Dudley for a minute."Didn' think yeh were, either, prune junior."  
Dudley's mouth fell open.

Their visitor then peered at Alice who hadn't moved or made a sound till then.

"An' here's Alice!" He cried."Lookit how yeh've grown! Las' time I saw yeh, yeh were abou' the size o' me palm." Behind his wild and messy hair and beard, Alice could see his beetle-black eyes were twinkling.

"How 'bout a cuppa tea then, eh? Or maybe summat stronger. Haven' got any Firewhiskey now, do yeh?" He addressed the Dursleys. Dudley had gotten up and scrambled over to his parents. None of them responded, their faces white with fear.

The giant man sighed, walked over to the damp fireplace and leant down. When he'd drawn back, a warm fire was burning in the hearth.

He strode over to the couch and sat down, the thing sagging under his weight. He then looked at Alice again.

"Yeh look jus' like yer dad, Alice. 'Cept fer yer eyes. Yeh've got yer mum's eyes," he said, eyes soft. "But everythin' else is James. Yeh look jus' like he did when he wuz eleven years ol'."

Alice couldn't find her man knew her parents!

"Speakin' of, I got summat here for yeh. Since it's yer birthday an' all," He continued, searching inside his coat for the something. He drew out a slightly squashed box and handed it to Alice.

With a quick glance at the man, she opened it to find a golden-brown cake sitting inside, butter from the smell of it, with 'Happy Birthday Alice' scrawled on it in bright green icing.

Even though it looked like someone had run a steamroller over it, Alice felt a slight itching in her nose and a burning lump in her throat. No one had ever given her anything for her birthday, let alone a cake made especially for her.

"I might've sat on it at some point, but it'll still taste alrigh'," the man explained a little apologetically.

Alice looked up at him, meaning to say thank you, but the words that came out of her mouth were,"Who are you?"

"Ah whoops, forgot ter introduce meself," He chortled."Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

He held out a hand and shook Alice's arm whole-heartedly. She felt her feet leave the ground momentarily with each shake.

"Now why don' yeh have a slice o' that cake while I put the water ter boil fer the tea," He said, pulling out an entire kettle from within his coat and placing it on top of the fire.

_'A birthday cake and a teapot full of water,' _Alice thought._'What else does he have in there? A boat? Is that how he got here?'_

She attempted to rid herself of all the distracting questions running through her head."Um, I'm really sorry, but all I really got out of your introduction was that your name is Rubeus Hagrid…" she said, confusedly.

"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. And like I said, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. Yeh'll know all abou' Hogwarts, o'course."

"UHHH, no."

Alice knew she'd said the wrong thing when the man, Hagrid, started choking on his spit.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"WHAT? Why are YOU sorry?! It's them who should be SORRY!" He roared, pointing at the Dursleys, who shrank back. "Not knowin' abou' Hogwarts… I mean, I knew yeh hadn' bin gettin' yer letters, but I thought they'd at least have…"

He whirled around and bellowed,"WHY WOULD YEH NOT TELL HER? WHY WOULD YEH KEEP HER IN THE DARK?"

Aunt Petunia and Dudley cowered behind Uncle Vernon, who looked like a man who's internal organs had collapsed and was mouthing words no one could hear.

"Tell me what?" Alice asked, a bit frightened at the sudden change in the man.

"Abou' you! Abou' yer parents!" He cried, his tone softening when he addressed her.

"They DID tell me! My parents died in a car crash!"

"In a CAR CR-? Now wait jus' a minute," he said turning around to face the Dursleys again., looking even angrier than before."Do yeh mean ter tell me tha' this girl here knows NOTHING, abou'-abou' ANYTHING?"

"Hey! I'm not THAT bad!" Alice interjected indignantly. "I can do, like algebra and stuff!"

"Algeb- Okay, okay,"

The man, Hagrid, squeezed the bridge of his nose and muttered,"Dumbledore did say it might be a bit hard but this…"

He strode back over to the couch where Alice was still standing, holding her birthday cake in her hands, and sat down heavily (It was a miracle the thing held). He then placed a hand as gently as he could on her shoulder and said,"Alice, listen carefully because I'm going ter tell yeh what they should've told yeh years ago."

Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice and shouted,"NO! DON'T YOU DARE TELL HER!"

Hagrid shot a look at him that warned him that he shouldn't be telling him what he dared or dared not do.

But apparently, desperation made you braver because Uncle Vernon yelled again,"STOP! I FORBID YOU!"

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." Hagrid waved an arm dismissively at them before continuing,"Alice, yer a witch."

For one long moment, only the waves crashing against the walls outside could be heard.  
And then Alice said,"Rude."

Hagrid seemed confused,"Wha'?"

"There's no need to call me names.I know I'm not the easiest child in the world too look after," her voice faltered but she went on,"I try my hardest everyday. I get decent grades, I do my chores. I may not have any friends, but that isn't because I'm mean to anyone-"

"I'm not calling yeh names!" Hagrid exclaimed exasperatedly. "I'm jus' tellin' yer what yeh are! Yer a witch an' yeh have bin accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Alice gaped at him."You're-you're serious?"

" 'Course I am. I reckon it's time yeh read yer letter," he took one out of his coat pocket and handed it to her.

Alice looked at it. Here it was, the object that she had been dying to get her hands on, and what had driven them all out of their house at No 4, Privet Drive. It was made of the same heavy parchment and had the same purple wax seal with the coat of arms on it as all the others. With trembling fingers, she tore the envelope open, took out the letter and started to read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

**HEADMASTER: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

(ORDER OF MERLIN, FIRST CLASS, GRAND

SORCERER, CHIEF WARLOCK, SUPREME

MUGWUMP, INTERNATIONAL CONFED.

OF WIZARDS)

**Dear Miss Potter, **

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. **

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress**

_what the bloody heck_

This was what she had been thinking the day she had first received the letter and this was what she was thinking now after reading said letter.

She couldn't make sense of half of the things written in it. A million and one questions were racing around in her head. When she looked back up at Hagrid who was waiting expectantly, the one that came out of her mouth was,"What do they mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, I nearly forgot! Thanks for remindin' me," He nodded at Alice and proceeded to pull out a large grey quill, an ink bottle and a roll of parchment from within the depths of his large overcoat. Dipping the quill in the ink, he wrote:

Dear Mr Dumbledore,

Given Alice her letter. Taking her to buy her things tomorrow. Weather's terrible. Hope you're doing well.

Hagrid

Alice watched him grab a dishevelled-looking owl from his pocket, tie the letter around its leg and open the window &amp; throw it out into the storm. He then came and sat down next to Alice with not the slightest change of expression on his face, like what he had just done was as normal as texting someone.

"Now where was I?"

At that moment, a voice stated firmly,"She's not going. I'm not going to let her."

Hagrid turned around to fix his gaze on a panting Uncle Vernon, who had spoken.

"Ha!" He snorted. "As if a Muggle like yeh could stop her!"

"Mug-Muggle? What's that?" Alice enquired interestedly.

"A Muggle. Non- magic person," Hagrid explained." And these three happen to be the most Muggle-ish Muggles I've ever seen."

Uncle Vernon scrunched up his pig-like nose, offended."She's NOT GOING. She'll need money won't she? I'm not paying for her."

Alice looked around at Hagrid who immediately responded,"Yeh rilly think that James and Lily left nutin' fer their only daughter?"

Her uncle looked like he was ready to burst."SHE'S NOT LEAVING FOR THAT FREAKHOUSE! For years we have tried to stomp out all that rubbish out of her worthless body, and you can't just barge in and RUIN EVERYTHING!"

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, hold on."Alice interrupted. "You KNEW? All this while? You knew I was a-a witch?"

"Knew? OF COURSE WE KNEW!"  
To Alice's shock, it wasn't her uncle who had exploded, but Aunt Petunia who hadn't said a word until now.

"We knew the minute you landed on our doorstep that you would be as abnormal, as-as _unnatural_ — as that bitch I called my sister had been! She had gotten that_ letter _too and disappeared to that nuthouse! She met that good-for-nothing scoundrel you call your father, there" Alice looked into her aunt's face and realised that she'd never seen her look so livid."And he was just like her, if not worse. They went and got married of course, freaks of a feather and all that. So yes, we _knew_ that you would up being just like them, a DANGEROUS LUNATIC!" She spat.

Alice couldn't breathe. She barely noticed Hagrid blow up next to her in retaliation. Every sentence her aunt had thrown at her had hit her in her gut. After all this, she knew she hasn't even heard half of what she should know, but she was sure of one thing— She believed Hagrid. She was a witch. As impossible as it sounded, the fact was now cemented into her. And she realised in that moment, that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

**A/N: PHEW! One hell of a chapter, huh? Gotta admit, I had been dreading writing this one. It's very hard to change something that is so perfect, y'know? And I apologise for not having posted in MONTHS. It's all this chapter's fault! :T**

**Guess what motivated me to start writing again, though? **

**The answer starts with Dylan and ends in O'Brien! ;)**

**I WILL post the next one within two days. If I'm late, just send a 'DYLAN IS IN DANGER!' message to me. :D**

**Review? Please? :3**

**xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**[Disclaimer: Except for Alice and the extra scenes and modifications, everything belongs to JK Rowling. ]**

Alice was awake.

She could see the faint glow of the morning sunlight behind her closed eyelids, could smell salty sea air.

But she didn't open her eyes.

She lay there lazily for a while. She almost felt happy.

Happy.

_Happy._

Ohhhhh no.

Why was she feeling cheery today? Being happy when waking up never bodes well for her. Something bad was going to happen today. Maybe Dudley was going to push her off the stairs. Maybe today was the day Aunt Petunia worked her to death.

Oh God.

What if Aunt Marge was coming to stay with them?

Alice immediately shot straight up on her bed with a gasp.

This wasn't her bed. She was on a couch.

All the events of last night came crashing down on her.

Her eleventh birthday. Butter cake. HAGRID. Hogwarts? Her parents. Dudley's tail.

THAT'S why it smelt brackish around here. She was still in that house on the rocks.

A large, warm some thing had fallen off of her and onto the ground when she'd sat up. She looked down to see that it was Hagrid's scruffy, brown coat, which had landed on him.

Hagrid was still here.

So…So it WASN'T all just a dream?

She'd been half-convinced that it was, in the few seconds she was up. A feeling of extreme joy and hope started expanding inside her chest.

It was all real. Hagrid on the floor right next to her (she had felt terrible about this last night but he had insisted), the half-eaten cake near the smoking fireplace, her acceptance letter clutched in her hand.

There was only one thing that had the power to dampen her happiness.

Her parents.

Hagrid had told her everything last night.

x_x

_"Yer parents didn' die in a car crash, Alice. Downrigh' insultin' fer yeh ter go around believin' tha' when everybody else in our world knows the story."_

_Alice suppressed the emotions threatening to overwhelm her — anger, confusion, anticipation…FEAR — and asked quietly,"How did they die?"_

_Hagrid hesitated before saying,"It migh' be like a legend among us, but that doesn' make it any easier to explain." He sighed heavily. "I s'pose I should start with the wizard responsible fer all of it."_

_Someone was responsible for her parents' deaths? "Who?" she pressed._

_"You-Know-Who."_

_Alice furrowed her eyebrows."No, I don't know who."_

_"No, You-Know-Who."_

_"No, I really DON'T know who."_

_"No, I mean it was YOU-KNOW-WHO!"_

_"Oh. Yunohoo."Alice paused."He foreign?"_

_"NO, we call 'im You-Know-Who 'cause everyone in our world knows who he is an' no one likes sayin' his name!"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Blimey, Alice, they're still scared! See, this wizard, he-he was bad. Real bad. Bad as you could go. His name was…"_

_Hagrid opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out._

_"Maybe you could write it down?" Alice suggested tentatively, because Hagrid really did seem terrified of saying the name out loud._

_"Nah, can't spell it. Alrigh'. VOLDEMORT." Hagrid shuddered, like someone had dumped a bucket of icy-cold water on him. "Please don' make me say it again. Anyways, You-Know-Who, was one o' the most powerful wizards ever. But him being evil an' all, he used all that power to try and take over the wizarding world. Recruiting followers, killing those who didn' want ter join him. Terrible times, Alice," Hagrid looked deep into her eyes, trying to convey how bad things had been."Couldn' trust anyone, people dying left, righ' and centre. It really did seem like he was going to take over. But it all changed in one night. No one rilly knows why, but he turned up in the town yeh lived, looking fer yer family. A-And find them, he did. He broke all the defences outside yer house, got inside an'-an' he —" Hagrid sighed heavily."He killed 'em."_

_Her parents had been murdered._

_Alice didn't make a sound as Hagrid took out a tablecloth-sized handkerchief and wiped his eyes."Sorry, but I knew yer parents, Alice, an' nicer people yeh couldn' find." He exhaled."Anyways, once h-he had…Well, he turned to you. He tried ter kill you too. But he couldn' do it. Ever wondered how yeh got tha' mark on yer forehead? That's no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh. This man, he-he took care of yer parents, demolished yer house! __But he couldn't kill you. __And THAT'S why yer famous, Alice. No one who had made it into his hit list survived an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the Bones, the Prewetts — an' you was only a baby, an' you SURVIVED."_

x_x

__  
Something in Alice's heart clenched at the memory and her breathing quickened. She shut her eyes tightly and continued to go through what happened next.

Uncle Vernon had interrupted after that, declaring that Hagrid was full of it and was attempting to brainwash people. It probably didn't help Hagrid's case that Alice had softly asked whether he was sure he'd gotten the right Alice because if she was who he says she was, why hadn't she been able to turn Dudley into a mushroom or something whenever he'd given her a black eye? That was when Hagrid gently questioned whether nothing had ever happened to her that she couldn't explain. Alice hadn't replied, her mind racing with all those inexplicable incidents that had plagued her life, which by the way, included the Brazilian boa constrictor. Her lack of response was once again, incentive enough for Uncle Vernon to start ranting again about how he didn't want her anywhere near any evil cults lead by some crackpot old fool who called himself the headmaster. This had been Hagrid's breaking point for he had exploded at this last insult ("NEVER INSULT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE IN FRONT OF ME!"), drawn out a pink umbrella from his coat and swung it in an arc. A pink, curly pig's tail had sprouted from Dudley's massive behind, making all three Dursleys shriek words in languages unknown to man, and disappear into the room where Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had been sleeping in, slamming the door.

Best moment of her life.

Alice couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped her at the memory.

A shuffling sound had her peering down. Hagrid was awake.

He looked at her with one eye."Yer up? Grea'. Loads ter do today. Best we be off."

Alice could barely contain her excitement at these words.

x_x

After a speedy journey by boat from the house on the rocks (Hagrid had used magic and had also requested her not mention that to anyone as he had after the Dudley incident as well, and Alice, eager to see more, had agreed), and a long, uncomfortable trip using the subway which had involved everyone gaping at the two of them, they were in London, standing on a busy street, in front of a tiny, dirty- looking pub. Buried between two taller buildings, it looked to Alice like she wouldn't have even noticed it had Hagrid not pointed it out to her. This might actually have been true, because Alice got the weirdest feeling that only she and Hagrid could see it right now, in that little street full of people.

When they stepped through the doorway, the noise outside immediately faded.

'_Soundproof?'_ Alice wondered, as she scanned the place. It didn't LOOK any different from an ordinary bar — dim lighting, soft rock music playing from unseen speakers (she'd never heard the song before though), a few groups of people milling around, drinking and chatting. The only slightly odd thing she could see was that all their drinks had smoke coming from them.

Hagrid walked over to a bald old man who must be the bartender.

"The usual, Hagrid?" The man enquired, rubbing a large with a white cloth.

"Can't today, Tom. On serious Hogwarts business." Hagrid replied importantly, clapping a hand on Alice's shoulder.

Tom's eyes fell onto Alice and he gasped. His mug fell onto the counter with a thunk, but he paid it no heed as he whispered,"Good lord, can it be? Is this—"

The entire bar had gone completely quiet all of a sudden. Tom looked up at Hagrid."—_Alice Potter?" _

"In the flesh," Hagrid grinned.

"Well slap me in the face and call me a flobberworm, it's Alice Potter!"

Tom had shouted the last part out as he climbed over the counter and grabbed Alice's hands in his own.

"Such a pleasure, Miss Potter, such a pleasure," he said, smiling tremulously.

In a minute, the place was full of the sounds of chairs being pushed back and people rushing over, each one trying to shake Alice's hand first.

"Welcome back, Miss Potter!"

"I can't believe I'm actually seeing you, Miss Potter!"

"Oh my God, this is really happening, I can't even-"

"I shook her hand again. GUYS I SHOOK HER HAND TWICE!"

Alice was completely overwhelmed by all the attention. She had turned red in the face, as her hand was seized by several disembodied hands amidst the crowd of people, again and again, and shaken violently. Hagrid, glancing down at her, immediately took a hold of the situation.

"Aright, aright. Everyone back up. We have other stuff ter do so we'll be off now," He shouted above the babble and steered Alice away from the mob.

She could still hear them all chattering excitedly and Tom saying reverentially,"Alice Potter, in MY pub…"

She looked up at Hagrid with wide eyes. He grinned down at her."Told yeh you was famous."

Alice was trying to wrap her head around what had just happened when they stopped in front of a brick wall. Hagrid took out his pink umbrella again and tapped a brick in the middle of it, and _the wall melted away. _

A bustling cobblestone street stretched on in front of them, with quaint little shops on its either side.

"Welcome,"Hagrid announced."To Diagon Alley."

Alice stepped forward without any hesitation.

x_x

Alice sprinted behind Hagrid to keep up with his giant footsteps. The two of them had just walked out of Gringotts, the wizards' bank run by goblins which, Hagrid had said, no one would be foolish enough to rob, ever. It was protected by powerful spells and enchantments, as well as an array of magical creatures like trolls and dragons ("Crikey, I'd like a pet dragon," Hagrid said wistfully. "A pet dragon, huh?"Alice responded thoughtfully. "Hagrid, there's this movie I think you'll really like…" "Movie? What's tha'?")

Alice needed money to buy the items she required for school. This was why they had gone to the bank, so that she could withdraw money from the vault which contained all that her parents had left for her after their death. And what a trip it was. Involving a poem warning any potential robbers of the consequences, conversations with goblins, and high-speed tram rides with a goblin named Griphook as their guide through underground passages, their visit to the bank really had been something else.

Alice's vault was deep underground and was opened with a little golden key which Hagrid had been carrying. To her amazement, the vault was filled with heaps and heaps of golden, silver and bronze coins. She couldn't believe her parents had left her so much; She'd barely gotten five bucks from the Dursleys all these years and there lay a small fortune in her name, buried underneath London. They had also carried on to another vault 713, even deeper underground than hers, which Griphook said was a high-security vault. The thing was entirely empty except for one tiny, grubby little package lying sadly on the floor. Hagrid pocketed it and refused to reveal anything about it saying that it was 'top-secret Hogwarts business' and that Dumbledore himself had given him the task of fetching it.

Alice had felt curiosity burn within her but forgot about it as soon as they stepped out of the huge, white building onto Diagon Alley. Her mouth was wide open, as were her eyes, trying to take in all of the sights at once.

"Got yer letter, Alice?" Hagrid asked loudly, so that Alice could hear him above the hubbub of the people swarming around them. "The list of the things yeh'll need is in there."

Alice took out another smaller piece of parchment from within the envelope and perused it.

"Uniform, books, cauldron, scales, phials, telescope," Hagrid read out loud, peering at the list from above Alice."Oh, and yer wand, o'course. Tell yeh what, why don't you head on over ter Madame Malkin's over there and I'll go buy summat ter eat fer both of us?"

Alice felt a bit nervous, entering the shop. A squat, smiling woman immediately headed over to her.

"Hogwarts, dear?" the woman asked, smiling. When Alice nodded her head, she ushered her over to a corner. "Over here. A young man being fitted up just now as well."

The woman, Madame Malkin she assumed, stood her up on a little red stool, next to a pale, thin boy with silver-blonde hair who was being measured by a tape all on its own. In an instant, another set of tapes whizzed over to her side and started doing its job. Madame Malkin went back to man the front door again.

As she was being fitted, Alice felt the boy's gaze on the back of her head. She started feeling a bit self-conscious and patted her unruly black hair onto her forehead.

"You Hogwarts too?" came a voice from behind her.

Alice let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding and turned around."Uh, yeah. You too, huh?"

The boy regarded her for a moment before nodding his head."Got all your stuff yet? Father's buying my books and Mother's gone over to Ollivander's. After I'm done here, I'm taking Father to buy me a racing broom," he drawled, silver eyes glinting excitedly.

"Like the-the Nimbus?" Alice asked hesitantly, dredging up the name from an image in her mind—throngs of teenagers on the street outside gawking at a shop window which had a sleek-looking broomstick on display with the label _Nimbus 2000. _She didn't want to look dumb in front of a potential friend.

"Yeah, the Nimbus 2000, that's definitely the one I'll get," the boy answered, looking pleased. Alice felt like pointing out that the price underneath the name looked pretty outrageous, but he seemed very confident so she kept her mouth shut. "I'll smuggle it into school somehow. It's a stupid rule, anyways, why can't first-years be allowed to play Quidditch? I play Quidditch, by the way," he continued with a self-assured smirk. "Father says it'd be a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house's team. Do you play?"

Alice felt embarrassed as she said no. She didn't even know what Quidditch was. Would it be lame to ask him?

"I'm sure you like Quidditch though."

"Uhmmm…" This conversation was not going too well.

The boy looked slightly disappointed. "Well, you can watch me play for my house at any rate and you'll like it then because I'm really good at it. Know what house you'll be in?"

Oh God the questions were coming too fast. "Um…no."

"Well, no one really knows till they get there," he said indulgently. "I know I'll be in Slytherin, all my family have been. Imagine getting Hufflepuff though. Yeeeesh. I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" The boy had a disgusted expression on his face now.

Good grief, was there nothing she could talk about with this kid? "Uh.."

"Do you know our scarves and stuff take up our house colours once we get Sorted? Mine'd be green and silver then, the Slytherin colours."

Alice just nodded her head slightly, eyes wide, trying to take in every bit of information she could.

"Green and silver is a great combination, don't you think? I think it'd suit me very well, the green colour of my house,"he drawled on. Alice wished she could get in a word but he was looking at her as he spoke. "Green like the colour of your eyes."

Alice stared at the boy, non-plussed. For the first time, he looked less than confident as a pink tinge crept up his pale cheeks and he looked away.

There was an awkward lull in conversation until the boy spoke up again. "Woah, look at that dude!"

Alice turned around to look at whoever he was talking about. Hagrid was standing outside, grinning and waving two large triple-scoop ice creams in the air.

"Oh, that's Hagrid,"Alice replied immediately, pleased that she knew something the boy didn't.

"I've heard about him. He's some sort of servant at the school, isn't he?" The boy remarked.

"Uh…no. He's the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts,"Alice corrected him, frowning.

"Sounds fancy when you say it like that. _I've_ heard he's sort of _savage," _the boy said with obvious distaste. "Like he lives in a shack on the edge of the grounds, gets drunk every now and then, tries to do magic like us, and blows stuff up."

Okay, Alice didn't feel like being friends with this kid anymore. "I think he's great."

"Do you?" The boy said, like he thought she lacked good judgment skills. "Why are you with him, anyways? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," Alice said curtly.

"Oh, sorry." His apology was awkward and Alice couldn't tell if there was any sincerity behind the words. "They were _our_ kind, though, weren't they?"

"They were witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." Alice was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"That's good. I don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? I mean, some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they got the letter." The boy shook his head critically.

Alice didn't reply. She kept her gaze on her feet, face reddening.

"What's your name anyway?" He asked curiously.

"That's you done, dear." Madame Malkin was back and was smiling at Alice.

_'Thank God.' _Alice leapt down from the stool without answering the boy's question and paid the lady.

"I suppose I'll see you at Hogwarts, then," the boy said, kind of moodily, from behind.

Alice left the store without so much as a backward glance.

x_x

Needless to say, Alice had a million and one questions for Hagrid after the encounter with the pale boy. She asked him about Quidditch, ("It's sort of like so-soccer, 'cept it's played on broomsticks. Kinda hard to explain all them rules…") about Hufflepuff and Slytherin ("School houses. There's four of 'em."), whether one school house was better than the other ("O' course not! All the houses are equally good. 'Cept for Slytherin. There wasn' one witch or wizard who went bad who wasn' in Slytherin. But other than tha', they're all the same.") and if being from a Muggle family somehow made her inferior or weak ("Yer not _from_ a Muggle family, Alice. If he'd known who yeh were… He's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizarding folk. Anyway, what does he know about it? Some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles. Look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!")

After polishing off the ice creams, Hagrid took a skipping Alice over to Ollivander's wand shop. This was it, the most exciting part of their trip (which really is saying something), the part that she had been waiting for.

A small tinkle was heard as they pushed open the door to the shop. Alice looked around with wide eyes. The place was surprisingly magic-free, as far as she could see, for a wand shop. And yet it wasn't. There were no measuring tapes or quills or any other non-living thing moving about on its own. Nonetheless, the whole place tingled with some secret magic. It was dimly-lit, but she could tell that the shop was a lot bigger than it seemed from the outside —rows and rows of large, dusty cupboards disappear into the gloom, thin boxes stacked in them.

Alice glanced at Hagrid, nervous again and not really sure what she should do. Hagrid nodded at her encouragingly. She stepped forward.

"Good afternoon."

Alice jumped and wheeled around, looking for the source of the voice. Her eyes widened when she spotted a pair of glowing white orbs in the semi-darkness which were moving."Uh, hi."

The orbs glided forward out of the darkness. The form of old man materialised around them. He was watching Alice with those those orbs that were his eyes.

"Ah yes, " he said softly. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Alice Potter." His voice seemed to caress her name. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." Alice felt like she was part of a weird staring competition with the man, who she realised was Mr Ollivander. "Your father, on the other hand," he continued, still peering at her, "favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Alice sucked in her lips, not sure what to say. But Mr Ollivander apparently wasn't expecting her to. He moved toward her and reached out a long, white finger to part her messy fringe.

"And that must be where…" He touched the lightning-shaped scar on her forehead. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it. Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. _Powerful_ wand, _very_ powerful, and in the wrong hands… If only I had known…"

He sighed quietly and looked up. "Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes, " Hagrid nodded his head quickly.

"That was a good wand, that was. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" The old man suddenly had a steely look in his large eyes.

"Er - yes, yes they did, " Hagrid replied, with less gusto now. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't _use them_?"

"Oh, no, sir, " Hagrid responded promptly.

'_Oh so THAT'S what's in the pink umbrella.' _Awareness dawned on Alice .

"Well, now, Miss Potter," the old wandmaker said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get down to it shall we?"

x_x

Alice laid down on the creaky bed in Dudley's second bedroom. A feeling of uneasiness was poking at her insides. It wasn't the because she had taken an hour to find the right wand (holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches) which apparently was not too common among wizards. Mr Ollivander had progressively grown more and more excited as she tried out one wrong wand after another, so she figured it wasn't that big a deal. But it was what he had said to her after she'd chosen—or rather after she had been chosen by— her wand. He kept muttering, "Curious… Very curious indeed…" When asked what was curious, he replied that the phoenix whose feather was inside Alice's wand, had given another feather, just one other. And that one had ended up in the very wand that had given Alice her scar.

She was wand-twinning with the wizard who had killed her parents. Perfect.

"Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."

Those had been the parting words of the old man.

Probably not the best thing to say to weedy eleven-year-old who was totally new to all this.

Alice had been insecure about the whole ordeal as it is. She was famous, for something she didn't even remember! Everyone expected so, so much of her! How was she supposed to live up to all of their hopes? Hagrid had given her a very encouraging pep-talk on the way back, but it hadn't really helped alleviate her feeling that she was going to be big failure at all this.

Alice turned over to lie on her tummy. She really hadn't wanted to come back here, but Hagrid had insisted. He'd also given her a ticket, informing her that she had to be at King's Cross Station on the first of September, waiting on Platform Nine and Three Quarters for the Hogwarts Express, and that that she could contact him using her new snowy-white owl, which he'd bought for her as birthday present, despite her flustered protests.

Although she had never looked forward to anything _more, _Alice was also feeling dreadfully nervous.

What would the future hold?

_

**A/N: YAHHHH! I DID IT! I STUCK TO MY DEADLINE! And if you know me, you'll know HARD and RARE this is!**

**I kind of rushed through this chapter, so please, point out any errors in it to me and help a girl out.**

**I'm very excited about this fic now, so I probably will upload the next one just as fast. :D**

**Review? Pweease? **

**xx**

**P.S. What about that Draco/Alice scene eh? ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**[Disclaimer: Except for Alice and the extra scenes and modifications, everything belongs to JK Rowling. ]**

Platform Nine and Three Quarters, King's Cross. That's where Alice was headed. Pushing her trolley as fast as she could, she tried not to think about the jeering her aunt and uncle had given her as a sort of 'goodbye and good riddance' thing.

"Nine and three-quarters, eh?" Uncle Vernon had snickered as she hoisted the heavy trunk she was taking with her onto the trolley, "Isn't there anything that _isn't_ abnormal about these oddballs? Good luck finding your _platform._ Mind you, we won't be letting you into the house if you end up missing your train."__

They hadn't said a word to her the entire month. In fact, the only time Alice had talked to them, had been the previous night when she had asked her uncle if he would give her a ride to London. He had only agreed because they were taking Dudley to London anyway, to get his tail removed ('_Wonder what they'll tell the doctors,' _Alice had thought).__

It was as if they were under the impression that by making things as difficult as they could for her, Alice would be forced to reconsider her decision.

_'There's Platform Nine.' _ Alice hurried over to it. _'And Platform Ten.'_

But there was no Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Okay. Now what?__

Hagrid hadn't mentioned anything regarding this matter. She pored over her ticket, hoping to see instructions on it which would tell her what she needed to do.

No such luck.

Maybe she had to be three-quarters of the way between Nine and Ten.

…That wasn't it either.

"Feeling slightly idiotic now, just standing here between two pillars with my trolley and my owl cage," Alice whispered to herself, a wave of panic sweeping through her.

_'OKAY. CALM DOWN. What are my options?'_

She knew she didn't have to do any spells. Hagrid had warned her against doing any magic in the midst of Muggles as it was against the law. So taking out her new wand and waving it about probably wasn't the way to go.

There was nothing for it. She'd have to wait until someone else came along. She couldn't be the only witch going to Hogwarts from King's Cross, right?

"…Nine and three quarters, yeah?"

Alice whirled around. A man in an everyday suit was rolling a trolley in her direction, closely followed by a woman and a girl.

There was a large trunk on the trolley and the girl looked like she was Alice's age, but those were the only factors pointing toward the notion that they _might_ be going where she was headed as well. They didn't have an owl or any other animal with them, and they seemed\

to be completely normal.

'_Please don't let them have been talking about spare change…'_

The young girl was looking down at her ticket."Yes, dad, nine and three quarters. Now that we're between the platforms nine and ten, we can follow the next step of the professor's instructions."

Nobody else would try to listen in on this perfectly ordinary-looking family in the middle of the hustle and bustle that is part of their daily lives. Alice strained to hear more, feeling slightly guilty for eavesdropping.

"Run at the ticket barrier," the older woman stated.

_Say what now?_

Alice waited for the rest.

Was that it? They had stopped conversation and looked like they were ready to leave.

She couldn't lose them. She might not get another chance. Alice rushed over to the family.

"Excuse me?"

All three of them looked up at her, slightly flustered.

"Are you, um, headed toward…Platform Nine and Three-Quarters? I'm headed there as well," Alice said slightly hesitantly. The last person she'd asked (the guard) where Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was, hadn't been very nice.

"Why, yes dear," the woman replied with a slightly relieved smile.

"Are you going to Hogwarts too?" the girl asked brightly.

"Yeah, I am!" Alice bobbed her head quickly. "The thing is, I don't really know how to…how to—"

"Get onto the platform?" The man completed, a kind look in his eyes.

She nodded.

"Well, the professor who informed us that our daughter had gotten into the school, explained it to us. You've got to walk through that ticket barrier over there, between the two platforms."

Alice gaped at him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, that was my response too. Honey, why don't you help this sweetheart out? I'll go through with Hermione."

Alice watched as the man started to push his trolley toward the barrier, with the girl, Hermione, holding on to his right hand. He kept walking straight on and on and—

Where'd he go?

"Ready?" The woman was smiling down at her.

Alice nodded for the third time, eyes wide.

Gently taking her hand, the lady helped her roll her luggage toward the barrier. Faster and faster they walked, Alice's breathing quickened, the barrier was growing bigger by the second and—

A completely different platform stretched out in front of her. People were hurrying about, doing last minute checks and dragging their trunks over to the beautiful, big, scarlet train sitting on the tracks A large 'H' was stamped on the front of the engine. A sign that said Platform Nine and Three Quarters hung overhead.

Alice turned around to look back at the way she came. A large doorway stood there instead of the barrier she had just come through. She grinned excitedly at the woman who was still holding her hand, who returned it. The man and the girl were waving from a little further ahead. Alice noticed the lady glance at them.

"Thank you so much for your help, Mrs— "

"Granger," the woman replied good-naturedly.

Alice flashed her a grateful smile."I'll be okay now."

Mrs Granger patted her on her head. "You take care."

A slight pang pricked her heart as she watched Mrs Granger hurry over to her daughter and husband.

Shaking her head, Alice took off through the noisy crowd in search of a seat in the train. The first few coaches were already filled, several children hanging out the windows to say goodbye to their families. There were kids running about everywhere, on the platform and inside the train.

The many hoots that filled the air let Alice know that her new owl, who she'd decided to call Hedwig, a name she'd found in one of her textbooks, wasn't the only owl in the place. In fact, owls weren't the only other animals there. She spotted a tall boy with a green mohawk who had a solemn-looking iguana sitting on his shoulder. Alice nearly tripped over a furry brown cat as it weaved its way between her legs. On the way, she passed a round-faced boy who was saying worriedly saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again," to a stern older woman next to him.

"Oh, Neville," Alice heard her sigh.

The carriages toward the back of the train seemed to be comparatively empty. Alice hurried towards one of them. She put Hedwig's cage inside the compartment first and tried to shove her trunk in but it was much more difficult to lift it onto the steps than it had been to place on the trolley. And dropping it onto her foot in the process didn't help.

"Need some help with that?"

A tall boy with bright red hair and freckles was grinning down at her as she hopped around on one foot.

"Yes, please," she panted, raging at herself on the inside for being so helpless.

"OI, FRED! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND HELP US OUT!"

Another red-haired boy who had to be this one's identical twin bounded over to them. With the aid of the two boys, Alice's trunk was inside the coach in no time.

"Thank you," she sighed, and then muttered to herself, "…can't even handle my own luggage…"

"Ah, that's okay. First year's supposed to be a bit crazy," one of the boys said. "'Least you didn't try driving the train over to the English Channel while your twin brother distracted the driver with chocolate frogs."

The other one burst out laughing. "Man, we were such amateurs."

"Nearly made it to Brighton though, didn't we?" the former shook his head.

"Which one of you is which?" Alice asked, cocking her head.

"Well, that's for us to know and you to find out," the second one winked at her. "Right, Fred?"

"Right you are, George."

"I think I'll find a way," Alice warned, laughing. "Well, I'M Alice, at any rate."

"Well, Alice, if that's all, we'll be off now. Got to go and see if there are other damsels in distress who are calling out for us," Fred winked at her.

"I have no idea how you can call our mom a damsel in distress, honestly," George shook his head.

"Merlin, George, I've got a reputation to maintain!"

"I'll see you guys around, then!" Alice gave a little wave and got onto the train.

Once she'd settled into her seat in one of the few empty compartments left, Alice looked outside the window and once again, let her mind soak in the hustle and bustle of the station. Her wandering eyes caught sight of the red-headed twins again, who were surrounded by an equally fiery-haired bunch. They were all close enough for her to overhear their conversation.

"Where were you two?" A stout woman with a pleasant face, demanded in a surprisingly stern voice. "You left without taking your sandwiches! Which poor soul did you pull one of your pranks on this time?"

Both the boys each placed a hand on their hearts dramatically.

"You wound us, mother," Fred said. "We would no such thing."

"In fact, we might have even helped a poor soul out," George piped up.

"We aren't as bad as people make us out to be, mommy dearest," Fred grinned, ruffling his mother's curly red hair.

She swatted away his hand but Alice could see that the woman was trying not to smile. "That's enough fooling around, you two. Here, take your sandwiches. Have any of you, by any chance forgotten to take something along?"

'OOH, OOH, ME, ME! YOU'VE FORGOTTEN TO TAKE ME!" A small girl with as red hair as any of them bounced up and down with her hand in the air.

"Ginny, you're not of age yet. You can go next year, sweetheart."

"Don't worry, Ginny. We'll write you every week, loving brothers that we are," George pacified his little sister.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat," Fred nodded seriously.

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING," their mother said in a firm voice.

"Only joking, mum."

"Well, mother, I'll be off then," a lanky red-headed brother with horn-rimmed glasses spoke up. He had a shiny silver badge pinned to his chest. "The prefects have two carriages all to themselves where they all meet and have tasks assigned to them."

"Sounds like fun," George smirked.

"Oh, wait, what? You're a prefect?" Fred said, with an air of great surprise. "You should've told us, Percy, we had no idea!"

"Oh no wait, he might've mentioned it once-" George piped up.

"-or twice-"

"-a minute-"

"-all summer-"

"Oh bugger off," Percy said churlishly while little Ginny giggled.

"Enough, you two," the mother commanded. "Now, you have a good term, Percy. Send us an owl when you get there."

"I will send word with Hermes as soon as we arrive, mother."

He kissed her on the cheek and walked off briskly.

" 'Send word with Hermes'," George grumbled. " Could've just said yes, but no, he had to mention his _brand-spanking-new owl_…"

"How come he gets a new owl and robes, and we don't?" Fred demanded.

"Because he's a prefect," the woman answered curtly. "Behave yourselves, you two. And take care of your brother. It is Ronnie's first year after all."

"We'll take care of ickle Ronniekins," Fred grinned.

"Yeah, make sure Lee's tarantula doesn't bother him," George winked at the younger brother who was very visibly unnerved.

"See ya!" George waved as he sprinted toward the toward the train which had let out a warning bellow.

"There's something on your nose, Ron, by the way," Fred called out, following his brother.

Alice shook her head and turned away from the sight of the mother grabbing Ron to rub at his nose. She couldn't hold in her excited smile as she felt a rumble course through the train.

"You with me, Heddy?" She looked up at her new companion, who hooted in response.

"Tu-whit tu-whoo to you too."

**  
[A/N: DO NOT KILL ME PLISS. I HAS A COLLEGE COURSE TO FUCK UP. / ]**


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